From the #1 Cata review on Amazon.com: "Blizzard's greatest misstep was blaming players instead of admitting their mistakes.
They've convinced half of the population that the other half are unskilled whiners, causing a permanent rift in the community."

I know it's Off-topic, but out of curiosity, what purpose does Rift housing serve? As that is what Blizzard said needs to be in housing in order for them to put resources into such a feature.

Such a question can be asked also as, "what does raiding serve?".

It's different play styles for different players.

We have many games for many play styles. Many games incorporate what is fun and popular from other games. It's a way to have entertainment. Fixing up a home or a guild hall is a creative outlet, especially for those into modding games and enjoy interior decorating. It dovetails nicely into gaming.

It's a blast also seeing how much creativity a player base can have, too. What folks find use of objects can be astonishing (I still can't get over how they put 1+1 together to make aquariums)...

From the #1 Cata review on Amazon.com: "Blizzard's greatest misstep was blaming players instead of admitting their mistakes.
They've convinced half of the population that the other half are unskilled whiners, causing a permanent rift in the community."

We have many games for many play styles. Many games incorporate what is fun and popular from other games. It's a way to have entertainment. Fixing up a home or a guild hall is a creative outlet, especially for those into modding games and enjoy interior decorating. It dovetails nicely into gaming.

It's a blast also seeing how much creativity a player base can have, too. What folks find use of objects can be astonishing (I still can't get over how they put 1+1 together to make aquariums)...

Unfortunately, giving players homes for the sake of being creative is not enough. There has to be something in housing that can further gameplay. You have to be able to do something with the housing once you've finished building/customizing. It must have a purpose that makes you want to come back to it like Dungeons or Battlegrounds, otherwise I would imagine Blizzard sees it as a waste of resources and time.

It basically is Warhammer. They were contracted to make RTS games for GW, but GW broke contract and left Blizzard with unfinished projects. Why do you think hydralisks look so much (or, rather, exactly) like Tyranids?

That's not to say, of course, that Warhammer is better than Warcraft. Generally, GW makes shit, and Blizzard shits gold.

Which nid' does the hydralisk look like, please...tell me.

Let'smakeAmericaGREATagain. Trump 2016.

The community whined and bitched and cried, they stamped their little feet and demanded faster expansion releases. They don't get to complain now that expansions are shorter.

It's more like a step-sibling than a rip-off. WH wasn't a video game, so it's really hard to compare.

For the secondary argument, I've played WoW for 7 years and I still play EverQuest. I agree with others in preferring EQ's graphics (mainly models and mobs) over WoWs. No, it's doesn't "technically" have more polygons and isn't "better graphics", but I still prefer the EQ art style on mobs/npcs to WoWs.

I think WoW is the greatest MMO of all time by a landslide, but list of things it borrowed from EQ is very long. EQ's community is THOUSANDS of times better. It's not even close. And the game is still a hell of a lot harder than WoW. You feel real fear when you enter some zones. Never like this with WoW.

I think this is an issue with the fantasy genre in general:
Everything rips off of DnD which ripped off of LotR. As soon as it hit computers, it became a rip off of Everquest, which itself ripped off of DnD and LotR, etc.

There are many common themes and the genre itself is very inclusive. How else do you keep something old and medieval? By not including modern technology and looking to the past as your pool of resources. Well, that's finite.

Blizz has come a long way in pushing the envelope with their gnome/goblin engineering and such, but ultimately, a sword is a sword, dwarves are dwarves, and dragons are dragons. Sure they are reimagined in different ways (trolls, for instance) but the basic source material is all the same.

Honestly, I fail to see why this should discourage anyone from enjoying something.

Like other have said it started as a rip off but Blizzard went their own path a while ago. Warcraft takes its influence from all sorts of places.

I'm a Forsaken. I kill firstborns while their mamas watch. I turn cities into salt. I even, when I feel like it, rip the souls from little girls, and from now till kingdom come, the only thing you can count on in your existence is never understanding why.

From the #1 Cata review on Amazon.com: "Blizzard's greatest misstep was blaming players instead of admitting their mistakes.
They've convinced half of the population that the other half are unskilled whiners, causing a permanent rift in the community."

I think this is an issue with the fantasy genre in general:
Everything rips off of DnD which ripped off of LotR. As soon as it hit computers, it became a rip off of Everquest, which itself ripped off of DnD and LotR, etc.

There are many common themes and the genre itself is very inclusive. How else do you keep something old and medieval? By not including modern technology and looking to the past as your pool of resources. Well, that's finite.

Blizz has come a long way in pushing the envelope with their gnome/goblin engineering and such, but ultimately, a sword is a sword, dwarves are dwarves, and dragons are dragons. Sure they are reimagined in different ways (trolls, for instance) but the basic source material is all the same.

Honestly, I fail to see why this should discourage anyone from enjoying something.

the big deviation blizzard has done has been with orcs.

in fact the more intelligent and sociable versions of orcs are termed "blizzardian orcs" where the typical bloodthirsty and mindless rape-machines are termed "tolkeinian orcs".

they were the first to make the idea of non-murderhorde smart(relatively) orcs popular.

You will never finish updating your home (or guild hall). It's not static. Every reward and new object that can be placed there has to go into your design.

Had to hide my carpenter in EQ2, as the demand could be extreme, especially for guild halls and the perfectionists who'll spend 24hr runs decorating it!

When I said "customization is not enough," I was refering to Blizzard. The paragraph I wrote is not targeted towards the opinions of players, but rather what would need to be possible for housing to be implimented by Blizzard.

When I said "customization is not enough," I was refering to Blizzard. The paragraph I wrote is not targeted towards the opinions of players, but rather what would need to be possible for housing to be implimented by Blizzard.

It starts with having someplace for an adventurer to hang his hat.

EQ2 has your hall and guild halls. RIFT is using the environment itself to call home. WoW who knows.

But you have to have some building blocks to build with. But one thing is sure, not to go the LoTR route -- the peg system is a glorified shelving system.

It also has to be a main feature of the game to be a success, not something buried under dailies. The system is time consuming to make, and has to have a return on it's investment. For a game like WoW where cash shops also are frowned upon, it's also a venue to obtain custom housing gear from Blizzard's store (which makes it also not a drain on resources, it's a feature that pays for itself) no worse than buying pets. There's ingame items that can be used, but the store bought stuff are like furniture sets (sofas; end tables; beds...items that isn't a quest or adventure rewards).

It also can bring in new professions really lacking in WoW -- like Woodworkers and Carpenters.

It's a sub-economy all in itself. Much like the building industry in RL.

From the #1 Cata review on Amazon.com: "Blizzard's greatest misstep was blaming players instead of admitting their mistakes.
They've convinced half of the population that the other half are unskilled whiners, causing a permanent rift in the community."